Any old timers notice how times have changed in perception of gyne?

[kirribilli]

I'm 51, have a moderate case of it, but was rarely razzed in high school, college, through most of my adult life. Yeah, it happened. But not often, and I shrugged it off as best I could when it did. (And I had a lot of other advantages going for me.) I just assumed that people where too civil or empathetic (or stunned) to say anything. It was taboo almost to note or talk about, much less make fun of.

It seems, though, that in the past five-to-seven years, it has become much more common to mock "m'boobs" whether it's on TV, in movies, or in person whether with friends or strangers. I stunned at how often people just crack a hostile remark at complete strangers with gyno at the beach, in the gym, et-cetera. Maybe it's the downside of this problem being more talked about, taken out of the closet, people being more open. Or maybe a result of our media-saturated culture, cable, the internet. This may not be the intent, but it is a side effect.

I ponder this because, I'm 51, only in recent years have considered surgery. I've probably had more remarks in the past five-to- seven years than in my whole life combined. Shame, I think. And you would think I would have received more remarks when I was young, as kids are crueler. Maybe it's being older, too: You are target for abuse who is less likely to fight back, or at least that is the presumption. Or maybe it's just the decline of civility. Or maybe the body culture has changed, too. Or maybe all of these things.

Any thoughts?




You'd probably have to be over 30 or maybe 40 to know what I am talking about, probably.

[Spleen]

I'm 39 and I can't really say I've seen much of a difference in the amount of mocking.  To me the issue isn't so much about the people that tease, but the recipient.  Guys seem so much more sensitive and thin skinned these days.  Developing a thick skin or ignoring comments is a much better coping skill than all the hiding, avoidance and passivity, IMO.

[headheldhigh01]

i think it's just an effect of the information age, everything is out in the open for discussion more, so mtv goes doing a story on it here, or the bbc there, and some are going to be more respectful than others.  i remember seeing a primetime entertainment show incorporate it, mentioned it but forgot which, that was at least serious/sympathetic in its treatment of the shame effect. 

but the plus side is it cuts both ways, cable tv and the net are tools we didn't have.  i've said many times if the net had existed only ten years earlier, let alone 28 years when i got it, i would have figured out what it was on a site like this much earlier, and it could not have wrecked my life the way it did.  so overall, in spite of the fact i personally would have shrunk into the couch if a story on it had shown if i was watching tv with my family, i think it's net positive, the exposure is needed.  and the other effect is, now that i know what it is myself, anybody that made a crack at me, i'd know it's a condition, not me with some lone weird deformity (not that it'd matter, but i wouldn't be a prisoner of my ignorance any more), and i'd just laugh at them.